|
Crawfordsville, Arkansas | My grandfather had it back around 2001 or so. Went in the hospital for internal bleeding. Stayed in our small town hospital for about 3 months going through this surgery and that surgery. No one knew what it was. This exploratory surgery went on and on until we as a united family put our foot down and had him transferred to the largest hospital in Memphis. I can't remember how long he was there but it was just a few days before his cancer was discovered. The details are blurry to me now as this was close to 20 years ago but the outcome was to completely remove his pancreas. He was fully insulin dependant afterwards.
He was using shots daily to regulate his sugar. This went on for probably a year or close to it. He tried to get a insulin pump and went a few different ways to get it but was denied again and again. He got ahold of our then state senator and told her the problem and within a few days he had his pump! She was a democrat and he was a lifelong republican and sort of despised her but after she came through for him he never said another ill word about her.
He passed in 2015. Lived from 2001 to 2015 as a pancreatic cancer survivor. At the time when his pancreas was removed he was one of 2 in the US living without a pancreas. The doctor that did the surgery brought in a bunch of different surgeons and doctors to show how he was surviving and thriving. It really was an amazing thing to see and witness firsthand. He was down and out for about a year but the following year he was back driving a tractor and combine and did so until the last year of his life. He was 84 when he passed away. That would put him at around 71 when all this took place.
Edited by Detroit 3/6/2019 22:39
| |
|
Alex Trebek ---Cancer
